We are starting to feel the serious ramifications of the continued “Safer at Home” order initiated by Wisconsin.  It started on Wednesday, March 25, and has only been 11 days.    Despite the hardships, we have been taking advantage of our country homestead with its added space, but we are starting to feel depression settling in.    The lack of social interactions has been one of the biggest challenges for us, especially for Natalie.   Luckily she is able to use Zoom for her “virtual cocktail parties” as a means of tempering the isolation but despite the “virtual” connections available we are starting to feel the effects of loneliness.

April 1st came and went with no real desire to “fool” anyone.  There were a few parents that thought it would be funny to tell their kids that school was back in session and watch them waiting outside for the bus only to reveal the gag.  Most people didn’t think that was too funny.

On a more personal note, our work continues to prepare for a surge of patients and we continue to be concerned about our largest elderly care facility that is dealing with an outbreak.   As of today, the National Guard is on-site testing patients and staff.   Our hospital has had one death so far and we have 11 patients that are “persons under investigation”.

Wisconsin currently has 2,128 total cases and 60 deaths with a death rate of 2.8 %.    The U.S. currently has 320,619 confirmed cases and 9, 114 deaths attributed to the virus so it seems very dire and we are still ahead of our local surge both statewide and nationally.

My work continues to be furloughed the majority of the time as I worked two days last week, will work one day next week, and one day the week after.  This is due to the decrease in elective and non-emergent exams and procedures and also the desire to keep medical professionals as isolated as possible from the virus as over 10% of the positive cases worldwide are medical professionals.

Since I now have more time on my hands, I decided to set up a portable amateur radio station here at the lodge and look forward to enjoying that hobby a little more going forward.  The piano is also starting to become center stage during my time at home and I still want to learn the bagpipes and am practicing with the chanter as much as possible.

As you can see, Willow is beside herself with excitement.
A typical day at work
Zed is probably the only one in our family really enjoying the “Safer at Home” order
Natalie attending daily work meetings while enjoying the outside view
An early spring drone shot of the Lodge at Steinthal
Zed and Cole out for a run in the field
A view towards the east
The crew getting ready for a country walk

We’ve decided to put the Lodge at Steinthal up for sale. For more information click HERE